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A Rite (n.) wrongly ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠performed conjures up the very danger it was meant to avert — the regression into instinct, loss of soul and lowering of consciousness.

Rite (n.) and ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠dogmas were dams and walls built against the unconscious; when symbols weaken with age, the barriers collapse and the waters rise.

A Rite (n.) secures ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the co-operation of the unconscious: primitive man never reckons without his host, knowing his solitary will is only a fragment of a total situation.

A Rite (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not invented and passed on; like slang, it springs up in many places at once from the unchanging soil of human nature.

Rite (n.) would ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠never have arisen, let alone survived prehistory, had they not yielded definite results.

A Rite (n.) on ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the primitive level is an uninterpreted gesture that bends instinct to a higher purpose; at a higher level rites become mythologized.